University of Colorado
Using Spectral Data to Explore Saturn and Titan
Saturn's rings are made of dust, ice, and solid chunks of material. Individuals use spectrographs in this final installment of 22 lessons to determine the atmospheric elements. They analyze spectrums from Titan's atmosphere and...
National Wildlife Federation
Why All The Wiggling on the Way Up?
Some of the CO2 emitted by burning fossil fuels is removed from the atmosphere by natural sinks, such as the ocean. The fifth engaging lesson in the series of 21 examines the CO2 data from three very different locations. It then makes a...
National Wildlife Federation
Quantifying Land Changes Over Time Using Landsat
"Humans have become a geologic agent comparable to erosion and [volcanic] eruptions ..." Paul J. Crutzen, a Nobel Prize-winning atmospheric chemist. Using Landsat imagery, scholars create a grid showing land use type, such as urban,...
Curated OER
An Overview of Solar Radiation
Students examine the Stefan-Boltzmann Law. Students compute basic radiative "constants" of the sun-Earth-atomosphere system. They examine the wavelength of maximum radiation emission.
Curated OER
Climate Change & Coral Activities
Students study how the ocean stabilizes our planet's climates and how global warming is becoming a threat to this fine balance. In this climate change instructional activity, students identify that fossil fuel emissions are...
Curated OER
Biogeochemical Cycles
Students demonstrate comprehension of the energy sources of various cycles by completing mini stories. They demonstrate analysis of words by defining individual word parts and combining them to form definitions. Students demonstrate...
Curated OER
An Environmental Puzzle: The Carbon Cycle
Students are introducced to how respiration and photosysnthesis cycle carbon through ecosystems. They read background information that describes the role of the Sun as Earth's ultimate energy source and explains how the energy...
Curated OER
The Tropopause
In this tropopause learning exercise, students read about the temperature of the air in the tropopause or the layer of the atmosphere closest to the Earth. They answer four critical thinking questions about this layer and the energy...
Curated OER
As the Sun Burns
Students investigate the sun's energy. They explore various websites, demonstrate proper solar protection, conduct experiments using special UV beads, and complete worksheets.
Curated OER
A Day In My Life
Students brainstorm how they can conserve energy in their daily lives. In this energy lesson plan, students discuss how they use energy and ways to conserve it.
Curated OER
Pollute Locally, Spread It Globally
Learners examine the rate of pollution throughout the world through an interactive program. They define air quality and the air quality index. They examine fuel economy and its impact on the Earth and renewable and nonrenewable resources.
Curated OER
Air and Weather
Second graders study Earth's materials. In this air and weather lesson, 2nd graders note changes in the weather and examine tools that help us study the weather. Students analyze how changes in the environment make changes in the...
Space Awareness
Oceans as a Heat Reservoir
Oceans absorb half of the carbon dioxide and 80 percent of the greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere. Scholars learn how and why the oceans store heat more effectively than land and how they help mitigate global warming. Pupils...
Teach Engineering
Air Under Pressure
Introduce your class to air masses and how they affect the weather with a lesson that focuses on the differences between high and low air pressure systems. The class explores actual weather data using archived weather data.
It's About Time
The Sun and Its Effects on Your Community
Why is the sun round? Examine this question, and others, with your pupils while teaching them how to live in a more earth-friendly environment. Pupils explore Sun composition and discuss how solar wind, sunspots, and solar energy affects...
Curated OER
Energy from the Sun
In this energy from the sun instructional activity, students are given 20 terms to complete sentences about the sun, the energy of the sun, the radiation of the sun, the transfer of energy from the sun and the currents created by the...
Curated OER
A Bird's Eye Look at the Sun-Earth System
In this Sun-Earth system worksheet, students fill in blanks with the proper terms from a given list to complete a summary of the relationship between the Sun and the Earth. A major topic includes how solar storms effect the Earth and the...
Curated OER
The Atmosphere
In this atmosphere worksheet, middle schoolers complete 20 fill in the blank questions about energy concepts, different types of winds, and air pollution.
Curated OER
WorldWatcher Activity: What Happens to Sunlight?
Students examine a set of data to try to determine the amount of cloud cover. In groups, they make a list of items that reflect light in the atmosphere and how different amounts of it can change the temperature. Using WorldWatcher,...
Curated OER
Mission Planning: Earth/Mars Comparisons
Students compare and contrast conditions on Mars to those on our own planet, specifically, their local or regional environments. The physical characteristics, the atmosphere, and other astronomical data is considered.
Curated OER
Energy Efficiency Ambassadors
Students research and compare two products that provide the same function but require different amounts of energy to do the job. They examine and demonstrate energy efficiency and discover how it applies to different technologies and...
Curated OER
Mission 6: Renewable Energy
In these renewable energy worksheets, students learn about renewable energy and energy sources. Students complete a 23 page packet for the activity.
Curated OER
Barnet Atmosphere Adv Word Search Puzzle
For this science and language arts worksheet, students analyze 30 words in a word bank which pertain to the atmosphere and weather. Students find the words in a word search. The meaning of the title is unclear.
American Museum of Natural History
Make a Terrarium
Scholars read a brief overview of what a terrarium is and how it creates the greenhouse effect, then click on a link to discover the materials and 10 steps they need to build their own.